Read complete books and articles on: Teton (Lakota) Indians

Sioux - or Dakota, confederation of Native North American tribes, the dominant group of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock, which is divided into several separate branches (see Native American languages). The Sioux, or Dakota, consisted of seven tribes in three major divisions: Wahpekute, Mdewakantonwan, Wahpetonwan, Sisitonwan (who together formed the Santee or Eastern division, sometimes referred to as the Dakota), the Ihanktonwan, or Yankton, and the Ihanktonwana, or Yanktonai (who form the Middle division, sometimes referred to as the Nakota), and the Titonwan, or Teton (who form the Western division, sometimes referred to as the Lakota). The Tetons, originally a single band, divided into seven sub-bands after the move to the plains, these seven including the Hunkpapa, Sihasapa (or Blackfoot), and Oglala.

Migration toward the Southwest

The Sioux were first noted historically in the Jesuit Relation of 1640, when they were living in what is now Minnesota. Their traditions indicate that they had moved there some time before from the northeast. They were noted in 1678 by the French explorer Daniel Duluth and in 1680 by Father Louis Hennepin in the Mille Lacs region in Minnesota. Their migration had been in a southwesterly direction in the face of the hostile Ojibwa, who had been equipped with guns by Europeans.

In the mid-18th cent., having driven the Cheyenne and Kiowa out of the Black Hills, the Sioux inhabited the N Great Plains and the western prairies—mainly in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and up into the bordering provinces of Canada. They then numbered at least 30,000. The Tetons, numbering some 15,000, were the most populous of the seven tribes, and the Oglala Sioux, the largest group of the Teton, numbered some 3,000. The Sioux had a typical Plains-area culture, including buffalo hunting and the sun dance.

Relations with White Settlers

In relations with the white settlers all the divisions of the Sioux have a similar history. The Sioux became friendly with the British after the fall of the French power and supported the British against the United States in the American Revolution and (with the exception of one chief, Tohami, also known as Rising Moose) in the War of 1812. The United States concluded treaties with the Sioux in 1815, 1825, and 1851. A portion of the Sioux under Little Crow rose in 1862 and massacred more than 800 settlers and soldiers in Minnesota; this revolt was suppressed but unrest continued.

In 1867 a treaty was concluded by which the Sioux gave up a large section of territory and agreed to retire to a reservation in SW Dakota before 1876. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills and the subsequent rush of prospectors brought resistance under the leadership of such chiefs as Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, Rain-in-the-Face, Crazy Horse, American Horse, and Gall. In this revolt occurred the famous last stand by Gen. George Armstrong Custer. The last major conflict fought by the Sioux was the battle of Wounded Knee, Dec. 29, 1890, which resulted in the massacre of more than 200 members of the tribe.

The Sioux Today

In Feb., 1973, about 200 supporters, mostly Sioux, of the American Indian Movement seized control of the hamlet of Wounded Knee, S.Dak., demanding U.S. Senate investigations of Native American conditions. The occupation lasted 70 days, during which about 300 persons were arrested by federal agents. In 1979 the Sioux were awarded $105 million for the taking of their lands, resolving a legal action begun in 1923. Today they constitute one of the largest Native American groups, living mainly on reservations in Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana; the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota is the second largest in the United States. Many are engaged in farming and ranching, including the raising of bison. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux have a large casino on their reservation in Minnesota, but Oglala efforts to establish one at impoverished Pine Ridge have met with only partial success. Indian Country Today, a successful Native American newspaper, was started at Pine Ridge in 1981; it is now based in Rapid City, S.Dak. In 1990 there were more than 100,000 Sioux in the United States and more than 10,000 in Canada.

Bibliography

See R. H. Ruby, The Oglala Sioux (1955); G. E. Hyde, A Sioux Chronicle (1956); C. M. Oehler, The Great Sioux Uprising (1959); K. Carley, The Sioux Uprising of 1862 (1961); R. M. Utley, The Last Days of the Sioux Nation (1963); R. Hassrick, The Sioux (1964); E. Nurge, ed., The Modern Sioux (1970); R. Burnette, The Tortured Americans (1971); E. T. Denig, Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri (1975).

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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Teton (Lakota) Indians

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Lakota Society » Read Now
by James R. Walker, Raymond J. DeMallie. 212 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...vivid account of Lakota social lite in her Speaking of Indians. In the same year...was war with other Indians and the Lakotas all came together...11. Original Lakota...
2.

Lakota Belief and Ritual » Read Now
by James R. Walker, Raymond J. DeMallie, Elaine A. Jahner. 329 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, History, Entire Library

...English plural -s, e.g., Lakotapi , "Sioux Indians". The Lakota suffix -pi...Lakota , "Sioux Indian"; Lakotapi they are Sioux Indians. We have let Walkers...for all these...
3.

After Wounded Knee (Discussion of Teton Indians begins on p. 18) » Read Now
by Jerry Green, John Vance Lauderdale. 186 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

On a cold winter's morning more than a century ago, the U.S. Seventh Cavalry attacked and killed more than 260 Lakota men, women, and children at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. In the aftermath, the broken, twisted bodies of the Lakota people were soon covered by a blanket of snow, as a...
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On a cold winter's morning more than a century ago, the U.S. Seventh Cavalry attacked and killed more than 260 Lakota men, women, and children at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. In the aftermath, the broken, twisted bodies of the Lakota people were soon covered by a blanket of snow, as a blizzard swept through the countryside. A few days later, veteran army surgeon John Vance Lauderdale arrived for duty at the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Shocked by what he encountered, he wrote numerous letters to his closest family members detailing the events, aftermath, and daily life on the Reservation under military occupation. He also treated the wounded, both Cavalry soldiers and Lakota civilians. What distinguishes After Wounded Knee from the large body of literature already available on the massacre is Lauderdale's frank appraisals of military life and a personal observation of the tragedy, untainted by self-serving reminiscence or embellished newspaper and political reports. His sense of frustration and outrage toward the military command, especially concerning the tactics used against the Lakota, is vividly apparent in this intimate view of Lauderdale's life. His correspondence provides new insight into a familiar subject and was written at the height of the cultural struggle between the U.S. and Lakota people. Jerry Green's careful editing of this substantial collection, part of the John Vance Lauderdale Papers in the Western Americana Collection in Yale University's Beinecke Library, clarifies Lauderdale's experiences at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
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4.

"It Was Their Own Fault for Being Intractable": Internalized Racism and Wounded Knee, in American Indian Quarterly » Read Now
by Julian Rice. 20 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...wrought by the hostile Indians was a permanent loss...Frances. 1918 Teton Sioux Music . rpt...Americanizing the American Indians: Writings by the...Among the Oglala Lakota:...
5.

Lakota Myth » Read Now
by James R. Walker, Elaine A. Jahner. 434 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
6.

Teton Sioux Music and Culture » Read Now
by Frances Densmore. 674 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
7.

The Power of Religion: A Comparative Introduction (Chap. 7 "Lakota Self-Sacrifice") » Read Now
by Amanda Porterfield. 210 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

This introductory textbook describes and compares six religious traditions - Native American, Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist - focusing on ways in which belief is played out in practice, experience, and community. Emphasis is placed on religion in the USA today, with attention to...
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This introductory textbook describes and compares six religious traditions - Native American, Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist - focusing on ways in which belief is played out in practice, experience, and community. Emphasis is placed on religion in the USA today, with attention to the historical developments each religion has undergone, especially in response to the religious pluralism of American culture.
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8.

Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull » Read Now
by Stanley Vestal. 344 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
9.

Stories of the Sioux » Read Now
by Luther Standing Bear, Herbert Morton Stoops. 112 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
10.

With My Own Eyes: A Lakota Woman Tells Her People's History » Read Now
by Susan Bordeaux Bettelyoun, Josephine Waggoner, Emily Levine. 187 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...With my own eyes: a Lakota woman tells her...paper 1. Brule Indians -- History. 2...1857-1945. 3. Brule Indians -- Biography. I...Waggoner, TO THE LAKOTA NATION and TO...
11.

The Jesuit Mission to the Lakota Sioux: Pastoral Theology and Ministry, 1886-1945 » Read Now
by Ross Alexander Enochs. 178 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, History, Entire Library
12.

My People, the Sioux » Read Now
by Luther Standing Bear, E. A. Brininstool. 296 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

When it was first published in 1928, Luther Standing Bear's autobiographical account of his tribe and tribesmen was hailed by Van Wyck Brooks as 'one of the most engaging and veracious we have ever had.' It remains a landmark in Indian literature, among the first books about Indians written from the Indian point of view by an Indian.
13.

Fools Crow » Read Now
by Thomas E. Mails. 278 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Fools Crow is based on interviews conducted in the 1970s. The holy man tells Thomas E. Mails about his eventful life, from early reservation days when the Sioux were learning to farm, to later times when alcoholism, the cash economy, and World War II were fast eroding the old customs. He describes...
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Fools Crow is based on interviews conducted in the 1970s. The holy man tells Thomas E. Mails about his eventful life, from early reservation days when the Sioux were learning to farm, to later times when alcoholism, the cash economy, and World War II were fast eroding the old customs. He describes this vision quests and his becoming a medicine man.
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14.

Land of the Spotted Eagle » Read Now
by Luther Standing Bear. 266 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...better grasp some of the Indians spiritual strength...While he wrote about the Teton Sioux, his people, he...could communicate in Lakota. Standing Bear learned...because...
15.

Wakinyan: Lakota Religion in the Twentieth Century » Read Now
by Stephen E. Feraca. 112 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, History, Entire Library

Wakinyan is an excellent overview of Lakota religious thought and practice, introducing readers to its essential components. Through finely detailed descriptions of rituals and various types of religious figures, Stephen E. Feraca explains the significance of such practices as the Sun Dance, sweat...
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Wakinyan is an excellent overview of Lakota religious thought and practice, introducing readers to its essential components. Through finely detailed descriptions of rituals and various types of religious figures, Stephen E. Feraca explains the significance of such practices as the Sun Dance, sweat lodge ritual, vision quest, Yuwipi ritual, and peyote use. He also discusses the significance of herbs and religious artifacts and objects and explains the roles and responsibilities of medicine men and other religious practitioners.
First written as a report for the Department of the Interior in 1963, Wakinyan has long been recognized as a classic study of Lakota religion. This edition retains most of the original text, with its first-rate ethnographic descriptions of religious practices. The author's new endnotes bring the reader up to date on changes in Lakota religion during the last three decades.
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16.

Moon of Popping Trees » Read Now
by Rex Alan Smith. 240 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library